Side by side
bwmon vs ntopng
Both stand on bandwidth monitoring software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Free plan APILinuxSelf-hosted+1
bwmon combines live process visibility with spike records and six months of local history for a single host. Its Linux, root-access, and interface limits make it a focused self-hosted option.
Visit bwmon
Free plan Open source APILinuxMac+3
ntopng combines traffic collection, protocol identification and performance metrics in a web interface. The Community edition has stated suggested network limits, while paid options are perpetual licenses with maintenance included.
Visit ntopngThe facts
| bwmon | ntopng | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | Yes |
| Runs on | API, Linux, Self-hosted, Web | API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Web, Windows |
| Lowest paid plan | Free or on request | Pro: €299.95, paid once |
| Plans published | 1 | 6 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | github.com | ntop.org |
| On bandwidth monitoring software | #3 of 33 | #1 of 33 |
bwmon: what it does well
- Live receive and transmit rates refresh every second.
- Records process attribution when traffic spikes.
- Keeps five-minute samples for six months.
- Licensed under MIT.
What to know first
- Monitors only one network interface.
- Requires Linux kernel 4.0 or later and root access.
- Other distributions need manual dependency installation.
- Internet-exposed installs need authentication precautions.
ntopng: what it does well
- Explores traffic in real time and historically
- Detects more than 450 Layer-7 protocols
- Includes latency, throughput and packet-loss metrics
- Offers an HTTP-based REST API and Lua scripting
- Free Community edition is available
What to know first
- Community edition suggests a maximum of eight interfaces
- Community edition suggests a maximum of 256 live local hosts
- Pro costs €299, paid once
- Paid license includes one year of maintenance